BHUBANESWAR : Flowers may have been the most popular choice as New Year gifts but the capital city witnessed a welcome shift towards books this time. In what is being considered as beginning of a trend, people - those in the corporate and government sectors - are buying books of all genres as New Year gifts, thanks to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
The push for gifting books came after the CM appealed supporters and well-wishers to refrain from bringing flowers or gifts while visiting him on the New Year’s Day in view of the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sufferings of farmers due to crop loss.
Following Majhi’s appeal, government officials, too, are refraining from accepting flowers and diaries as gifts. The CM had announced that he would not participate in any official celebrations marking the start of the New Year in wake of the seven-day State mourning to honour the former PM. At Modern Book Depot, owner Om Prakash said there has been a visible increase in purchase of books for New Year gifting purpose this year.
“Government message on refraining from gifting flowers has actually given a push to book sales. People are mostly buying self-help/motivational books and award-winning books to give during the New Year. The sales are a bit higher for these two genres this time,” he said. Jivananda Mishra, partner at Vidyapuri Publication, agrees.
He said there have been orders for Odia books too, both by individuals and corporates, this time. “While it cannot be said books can replace flowers entirely, people have certainly started thinking of gifting them to people,” he said. At Vidyapuri, the demand is primarily for Odia novels and stories.
Arundati Mishra, HR head of an IT firm here, said amongst the several gifts given to employees for Secret Santa game and New Year, there were many books on time management and self-help in her office.
However, Arun Mishra of AK Mishra bookstores said book reading habit is yet to catch up with the twin city population and hence, the idea of gifting books will take time to be adopted.